Artist’s concept of “hot Neptune” TOI-3261 b. NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Miller (Caltech/IPAC) By Grace Jacobs Corban The Discovery A Neptune-sized planet, TOI-3261 b, makes a scorchingly close orbit around its host star. Only the fourth object of its kind ever found, the planet could reveal clues as to how planets such as these form. Key Facts An international team … Read more
The massive planet, likely still glowing from the heat of its formation, lies in the Taurus Molecular Cloud, an active stellar nursery with hundreds of newborn stars some 430 light-years away. The cloud’s relative closeness makes it a prime target for astronomers. But while the cloud offers deep insight into the formation and evolution of … Read more
The existence of a moon located outside our solar system has never been confirmed but a new NASA-led study may provide indirect evidence for one. New research done at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory reveals potential signs of a rocky, volcanic moon orbiting an exoplanet 635 light-years from Earth. The biggest clue is a sodium cloud … Read more
5 min read NASA’s EXCITE Mission Prepared for Scientific Balloon Flight Scientists and engineers are ready to fly an infrared mission called EXCITE (EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope) to the edge of space. EXCITE is designed to study atmospheres around exoplanets, or worlds beyond our solar system, during circumpolar long-duration scientific balloon flights. But first, it must complete … Read more
This newly discovered giant planet falls into the “warm Jupiter” category of exoplanets, meaning it orbits closer to its host star than Jupiter, or even the Earth does. Astronomers have even predicted that it might, under certain circumstances, migrate still further inward toward its star to become a “hot Jupiter.” Hot or not, thanks to … Read more
What inspired you to pursue your career in astrophysics? I grew up with a love of science. From my mother burying chicken bones in my sandbox to inspire my play as a paleontologist to my grandfather purchasing a telescope so we could look at the Moon in his backyard, my ambition was to become a … Read more
The primary instrument for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a sophisticated camera that will survey the cosmos from the outskirts of our solar system all the way out to the edge of the observable universe. Called the Wide Field Instrument, it was recently delivered to the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, … Read more
6 min read How NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Will Illuminate Cosmic Dawn Today, enormous stretches of space are crystal clear, but that wasn’t always the case. During its infancy, the universe was filled with a “fog” that made it opaque, cloaking the first stars and galaxies. NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will probe … Read more
This image of the gas-giant exoplanet Epsilon Indi Ab was taken with the coronagraph on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument). A star symbol marks the location of the host star Epsilon Indi A, whose light has been blocked by the coronagraph, resulting in the dark circle marked with a dashed white line … Read more
In March 2022, NASA passed 5,000 confirmed exoplanets. Tis data sonification allows us to hear the pace of the discovery of those worlds. In this animation, exoplanets are represented by musical notes played across decades of discovery. Circles show location and size of orbit, while their color indicates the detection method. Lower notes mean longer … Read more